Improving Group Task Performance: The Role of Group Goals and Group Efficacy

Abstract

The generalizability of goal setting to groups was tested for direct and interac- tive effects of assigned group goal difficulty and group efficacy on group goal commitment, actual group goals, group cohesiveness, and group task perfor- mance. Thirty-six groups of three subjects (N = 108) participated in an inter- dependent task. Results showed that (a) group goal commitment and group cohesiveness were higher when assigned goals were congruent with group effi- cacy beliefs, (b) actual group goals mediated the effects of assigned group goal difficulty on group task performance, (c) actual group efficacy mediated the effects of group efficacy condition on group task performance, (d) groups assigned difficult goals performed better than those assigned moderate or do best goals, (e) high-efficacy groups performed better than moderate-efficacy groups, (f) more committed and more cohesive groups outperformed less committed and less cohesive groups under difficult goal conditions. These results are discussed in relation to goal setting theory.

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